Coming this summer: a new book from Jean-Claude Ellena, well-known perfumer and author of Le Parfum (in French only). Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent is from Arcade Publishing and will be in English:
In this international bestseller, the most esteemed perfumer in the world reveals the art and business of creating precious scents, sharing his secrets for the first time.
To women the world over, perfume means glamour, and in the world of perfume, Jean-Claude Ellena is a superstar. In this one-of-a-kind book, the legendary Ellena takes the reader through the doors of his laboratory and explains the process of creating precious fragrances, revealing key methods and recipes involved in this mysterious alchemy. Perfume is an extremely competitive, highly secretive multibillion-dollar industry, and Ellena provides an insider's tour, guiding us from the initial inspiration, the mixing of essences and synthetic elements, to the deluxe packaging and merchandising in elegant boutiques worldwide. Among Ellena’s many creations are Declaration for Cartier, First for Van Cleef and Arpels, and Eau Parfumée au Thé Vert for Bulgari, but Ellena is now creating exclusively for Hermès. Not just for women, Perfume is for all readers interested in the business of making scents.
Perfume: The Alchemy of Scent is available now for pre-order at Amazon, where they show a publication date of 7/8/2009. (quote via arcadepub)
Update: this book is rumored to be an English translation of Le Parfum and not new material; also, the founder of Arcade Publishing passed away in early January and it is not yet clear whether they will be publishing their upcoming titles for spring 2009.
Ooh, I greatly enjoyed The Perfect Scent with Chandler Burr shadowing Ellena as he created Jardin sur le Nil, so I think I would like this too!
I am really looking forward to it, and it’s wonderful how many books we’re getting on the subject of perfume the last few years.
Agreed. Perfect Scent was fantastic, and who doesn’t love JCE perfumes?
Sounds good. I just think it’s funny for the marketing copy to already use the phrase “this international bestseller” for a book that’s not even in print yet. Suppose that advance sales might already make that true, but still…
And better yet, it’s “not just for women”!!
do I recall correctly that you are a fan of Terre d’Hermes?
Oh yes… And all three ‘Jardins’, and Bois Farine, and Bois d’Iris, and…
Actually, I credit Burr’s article in The New Yorker about JCE & the making of ‘Nil’ for the long, twisted road of this addiction (actually, it was someone’s blog post with a link to the article that started it all).
darn blogs! getting us well and truly hooked.
That cracked me up! I’m guessing it’s hopeful thinking…although would think this would get a wide audience.
I’m pretty sure it’ll be a bestseller around here!
The marketing copy confused me too. Maybe it’s already a bestseller in a French edition, and it’s only just been translated into English? I couldn’t tell.
But either way, the books sounds completely fascinating, and I can’t wait to read it. It doesn’t hurt that I love Jean Claude Ellena perfumes!
That doesn’t seem to be the case, in fact, the French Amazon site lists the book for pre-order in English (?)
Yes, there doesn’t seem to be a French version of this book. *wondering who wrote it*
No mention of a translator on Amazon yet, but there must have been one.
What I meant was that the book may have been written directly in English by someone else. If the book has been translated from the French, there should be a French edition of it on sale somewhere. Quite often foreign-language editions are published simultaneously, but then Amazon would mention the French edition as well as the English one.
How can a new book be described as an ‘international bestseller’?
‘Reply to this comment’ is not appearing under your comment, R. *puzzled by that too*
The comments will only nest 5-deep, so at the 5th level the “reply to” link doesn’t show.
And could be ghost-written, I suppose, but could also just be that there’s a different publisher for a French version & they haven’t yet sent out publicity, or that there’s an uncredited (as yet) translator.
For what is worth, although we spoke in both languages when interviewing him, Jean Claude speaks excellent English and should have no difficulty in writing a book in it with the help of a good editor.
Also, I undestand this is going to cover some material from the French Le Parfum for the English speaking audience, so the “bestseller” tag might apply to the good sales it has aleady generated.
There is a difference between being able to answer a few questions and writing a book. And editing bad writing is a real headache and takes longer than translating *well* from scratch. I don’t think it wouldn’t be worth it, from a publisher’s point of view.
Even if some of the material has been recycled in this new book, the boast sounds very silly.
So… it now appears it is a translation. The ‘international bestseller’ line is still silly since the French version of Le Parfum can’t possibly have been widely read around the world in the original language. The US publisher could have spared everyone all that wondering by mentioning – as they should – the name of the translator. Another one of those Holy Spirit jobs, obviously.
This is bound to be a very short book: all the books in the Que sais-je?collection are 128 pages. They’re meant to be ‘pocket encyclopedias’. And English is much more concise than French…
J, yes, it does look that way. I’ll update the article today…
Thanks for the nice news. It would be very interesting book to read. And it’s written by a famous perfumer and in English and not expensive. What else could you wish? Promising!
I do wish they’d translate his “Le Parfum” as well. But yes, this is great news.
Is there any regular reader of this website who WON’T be reading this book within a week of its launch?
Doubt it!
Hmm… LOL!
Excellent! Another book to add to my wishlist. I wonder if we’ll have it in my shop?
It is very good news
I’d feel almost negligent if I don’t get a copy….I’m already risking banishment for not having the Guides update…
We don’t yet have the technology to check your bookshelves, luckily…
oh thank goodness!
Daisy, you can just duck behind me, I’m the bigger target. I’ve never even glanced at The Guide, let alone any updates. But then, I lay no claim to being a perfumista, just a general hedonist.
Oooh … I’m excited! (Wearing Vetiver Tonka again today.
) This will be on my must-read list. Thanks for the info!
Vetiver Tonka is so brilliant. Hope he will write about the Hermessences…
Me too!
Seems amazingly cheap, although postage and the exchange rate will push up the cost for this Australian reader. Perfume books are usually so expensive, sometimes as expensive as a bottle of perfume itself. Hmmm … new book … or a bottle of Mitsouko … ? Difficult choice.
Gosh, you can’t buy it locally?? Because that is a hard choice.
Very exciting! I enjoy hearing what JCE has to say about his own creative process. His book in French, Le Parfum for the series Que Sais-Je, is fantastic, and I wish it were available in English for more people to read.
I wish they’d translate that one too.
Can’t wait! It will be fascinating to hear from someone who is not only incredibly talented but has been involved in the fragrance industry for so long and has such a varied body of work (from VC&A’s First to his Hermessences).
Yep
I’m waiting for the time that in this field they don’t have to mention in the end and as an appendix that the book could eventually and occasionally be interesting for a MAN, but of course mainly seen from the buisiness side of things. Especially in the case of JCE, who is so famous for unisex scents.
I know, ‘deluxe’, ‘precious’, ‘elegant’, are all very unmanly adjectives
Well, looking forward to this one, definitely. I very much like his aesthetics and Jardin En Méditerranée I thought was a groundbraking scent. And, as I’ve not been back since: congratulations to the new NSM ‘premises’!
I found that very odd, and can only assume it came from the publisher.
Yes, definitely. As usual with those marketing texts.
Very cool! I will be looking forward to reading this one. Thanks Robin!
De nada
Think I will put on some Ambre Narguila while I hyperventilate.
LOL!
Sounds exciting
Yes, it does!
A must have!
Thx
According to the Arcade Publishing website, the publication date was May 2008. Are they one year late?
Who knows? Marcello is checking on whether or not it’s a new book at all…might just be the English version (or an expanded English version) of Le Parfum.
Caveat emptor re pre-orders at Amazon: I ordered The Guide this way, and I think they had under-bought because on day of release I was notified that it wouldn’t ship for a week. Borders had it day of release. I gave the Amazon copy to a friend as a gift. But I’ll think twice about doing that again.
I’ve had that problem too, although very rarely…usually pre-ordering works pretty well for me.